My Time at Sandrock is finally here. Long-time fans of the life sim and farming simulation video game genres are already diving into the game. But if anyone out there is looking for a few hints to give them a successful start at the game, here are a few helpful hints.
Don't Touch the Trees in Sandrock
The player in My Time at Sandrock is new to town and is looking to find work, friends, and build a successful builder business all at once. To do this, players should collect items from around the town like wood, metal scrap and more. But if they want to stay in the good graces of the townsfolk, they will need to keep clear of the trees and do not waste any water.
The desert is a unique biome both in real life and in Sandrock. In order to keep the few plants they have alive and thriving, the townspeople need to protect the trees. If a builder chops down any trees or cacti, the people of the town will become upset, and some will even stop doing business with the builder because of it. Keep to the wood scrap piles with a bronze pickhammer in Sandrock for wood and the smaller plants like bulb cacti and sandgrass for dew instead. Players can kick the larger trees, however, to get feathers, bark, and more.
Focus on Upgrades in My Time at Sandrock
There are tons of quests and commissions that players can take on in Sandrock after they get established, but they will need to first focus on upgrading their workshops. Even if it means slowing down on the commissions and income flow, they need to make sure to build new machines, new harvesting tools, and similar before they spend too much time on the low-grade commissions their basic tools will earn them.
Another way to easily upgrade the workshop is to build multiples of necessary equipment. While building one Recycler in My Time at Sandrock will help players to convert scrap into usable items, having two or three will help to move along the process much faster. Just make sure not to overload the water cooling device that helps to keep them all running.
Keeping all these machines running day in and day out means loads of backup items that will be needed for future commissions. This incudes things that are needed for tons of machines, items, and commissions like the bearing in My Time at Sandrock.
Be a Good Neighbor in Sandrock
Builders are new to Sandrock, so chatting up all the residents will earn them brownie points. Make sure to stop and chat with everyone that passes by. In the middle left of the screen, a little notification will pop up once a day when chatting with each villager that gives players bonus relationship points with that person. Being friendly gets the builder closer to everyone, which can lower prices in their stores, make them more likely to send sweet birthday gifts, and even gets players closer to their desired romantic option in My Time at Sandrock.
Another way to get closer to the other villagers is to give great gifts. Find out what a character likes by giving them things and seeing how they react. Note the gifts people like to make again and give them again. This will bolster relationships with everyone very quickly.
One Commission in My Time in Sandrock
Pay close attention to the timelines of commissions when taking them from the commissions board. Just like in the previous title in the series called My Time at Portia, some quests only have 24 in-game hours to finish, while some give the player up to seven days. Not completing a mission in time means lost income and loss of friendship points with the one who wanted the builder's item. Players can only take one of each kind of commission a day, so make them count.
Be a Good Builder for Sandrock
In order to be the best possible builder in this new video game rural town, players will need to make sure that they:
- Use all stamina every day. Farm wood scrap, metal scrap, copper ore, tin ore, plants, fight animals, and more every day in order to use all that stamina. While those plants might not be needed today, they could be in demand tomorrow.
- Keep 200 gols around all the time. Don't empty those pockets on store items. Players will need 200 gols to pay for their weekly pass to the Ruins, so make sure not to run out just before the builder is out of time.
- Buy new blueprints as often as possible. The Commerce Guild where players can chat with Yan and collect commissions is also a great place to buy blueprints. Make sure to pick them up as often as possible; the Guild is always adding new blueprints for furniture and new machine parts in this indie farming simulation game.
My Time at Sandrock is available in Early Access for PC.